About LEO

Approximately 1,700 Lecturers across the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses are represented by the Lecturers’ Employee Organization, AFT Local 6244. 

These non-tenure-track instructional faculty play an important role advancing the university’s education mission, teaching a wide range of courses on all three university campuses. Lecturers covered by this contract are eligible for the university’s comprehensive benefits package for faculty and staff, including university-sponsored health care and retirement savings plans, paid time off, professional development funding and other benefits. 

The current LEO contract is a three-year agreement that took effect September 19, 2021, and expires April 20, 2024. Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement begin on October 27, 2023.

Guiding Principles

U-M and the Lecturers’ Employee Organization have a positive relationship and have worked together to achieve six previous collective bargaining agreements since LEO’s inception in 2003.  Lecturers are valued and vital members of the U-M community, serving as partners to other faculty and teachers and mentors to undergraduates. Past contracts have provided Lecturers with many beneficial terms and conditions of employment, and we are confident that current negotiations will lead to a strong, fair, and forward-looking contract that builds on prior gains the Parties have achieved.  U-M’s negotiations are informed by the following guiding principles:

  • We recognize the essential contributions of all Lecturers and honor the rights to bargain collectively. 

  • We are committed to bargaining in good faith on issues such as wages, hours, and working conditions. For issues beyond the scope of collective bargaining, the university supports dialogue and discussion through other appropriate avenues.

  • We commit to a collaborative negotiation process that supports creative problem solving and constructive discussion, and that fosters dignity and respect for all parties.

  • We see continuity of instruction and support for students as a core university responsibility, one that requires us to consider impacts on our students.